A University of North Texas sophomore was raped before she was strangled and set on fire, a Dallas County prosecutor said this morning during opening statements in her accused killer's trial.

Prosecutor Andrea Handley told jurors that after Ernesto Reyes raped Melanie Goodwin, a 19-year-old Arlington native, he put his knee on her chest and strangled her before burning her body. Reyes faces a capital murder charge in the Sept. 25, 2007, slaying.

"Melanie Goodwin never had an enemy in her life until she came into contact with the defendant in this case," Handley said.

Goodwin was killed after she gave Reyes a ride from a Denton convenience store, prosecutors say. She did not know Reyes, who was unemployed at the time

Goodwin had been working until nearly 1 a.m. handing out free Red Bull at a late-night game release at Dallas GameStops.

Sub-human POS. You can feel the evil coming from him even in a picture. I don’t agree with those who say life imprisonment would make these evil sub-humans suffer more, they don’t understand anything but having the same snuffing of their lives inflicted on them as they inflict on innocent people. They’re just animals with nothing but survival instinct-eat, breed, and murder. He has the dead evil eyes of a shark.

That comment wouldn't fly if it was for anything else, would it? Like with Palin (where Feminists stood quiet) and the liberal media went on attack mode because she was conservative, I doubt this story will get picked up by the national media or become some rallying point. The media simply sympathizes with what they see as the plight of the “undocumented workers,” and stories like this are really to controversial and touchy for a media that would rather write about feel good nonsense or make belief controversies and soft topics. The real controversies, like illegal aliens and the cost to our social services, the associated crime, even the spread of certain diseases (TB for example), that's a topic they don't want to touch.

In September, 2007, Melanie Goodwin’s burned body was found in Carrollton, Texas. Investigators determined that she had been killed by blunt force trauma before she was set on fire. Surveillance camera footage showed a man dragging Goodwin’s body out of the car and setting it on fire. Ernesto Reyes was seen talking to Goodwin the night of the murder; he allegedly asked her for a ride at a convenience store. According to reports, Goodwin did not know Reyes. Donovan Young, a friend of Reyes, reported that Reyes had come to Young’s apartment with blood on his shirt, telling Young he’d killed Goodwin. Reyes said he didn’t mean to kill Goodwin and asked for help. Young gave him a gas can and money, and helped him hide Goodwin’s car. Young reportedly saw Goodwin’s corpse in the back seat of Reyes’ car. Young was jailed, on suspicion of tampering with evidence. Reyes fled to Mexico, and United States marshals arrested him north of Mexico City. He was kept in a Mexican prison for five months while the nation negotiated terms of his extradition; they would only release him to the United States if he would not be executed. The U.S. Department of Justice agreed. He was extradited back to Texas in May, 2008.

And don’t forget those charming members of Hamas, Barack cares so deeply about that he’s providing $20.3 million, so they can immigrate to other nations. A leader like this doesn’t come along every day... /s Thank God!

After decades of trying to build newer and better contraptions for execution, spending millions, and coming up with complex machines, routines and procedures, drug cocktails, etc. we should ask ourselves why not hang people? From botched electric chair and gas chamber executions, the mess of shooting, or the the failures of injecting, the one method that after all these years still makes more sense that any other but is simply not “sophisticated and ritualistic” enough, is hanging.

Reyes fled to Mexico, and United States marshals arrested him north of Mexico City. He was kept in a Mexican prison for five months while the nation negotiated terms of his extradition; they would only release him to the United States if he would not be executed. The U.S. Department of Justice agreed.

I guess since the white trash are watching Jerry Springer in trailers across town and the ghetto blacks are watching Oprah in the projects...oh, it’s almost the 1st of the month...paycheck time from the Government, with a fresh set of food stamps!

Woo hoo...!

The illegal Mexican who does that type of work at the country club is usually hardworking and earnest, and cheaper than a meth head wanting $20 an hour for substandard work. The problem arises when the anchor babies arrive and join gangs while the parents work.

30
posted on 02/23/2009 6:55:25 PM PST
by wac3rd
(In the end, we all are Conservative, some just need their lives jolted to realize that fact.)

Anyways, what I was getting at was GOP elite reluctance to enforce the border. They get a service, and other parts of town get the costs.

Pro/Anti border fence aside, the government is just telling me that laws don’t matter, that the very idea of a United States don’t matter. Well, if that is the way they feel, and it is by their inaction, then why should I care about what ever laws I don’t want to since the main law entity doesn’t itself?

...the government is just telling me that laws dont matter, that the very idea of a United States dont matter. Well, if that is the way they feel, and it is by their inaction, then why should I care about what ever laws I dont want to since the main law entity doesnt itself?

That' IS the message the government gives us. It teaches disrespect of US laws and suggests because the government can pick and choose which laws it enforces, obeying US laws is optional or subject to personal interpretation. It doesn't help when activist judges affix fines of $70,000+ to US landowners for the claims of illegal aliens who have not one iota of right to be on the homeowners property or in this nation in the first place, but are there due to government negligence in enforcing immigration law.

I'm personal friends of the Goodwin family and it's truly not believable what they have gone through (personally, with the Feds, and with the Dallas County DA's office) since this tragedy happened to Melanie.

33
posted on 02/23/2009 7:24:54 PM PST
by harpu
( "...it's better to be hated for who you are than loved for someone you're not!")

> Would that not seem to make this even worse considering our government is allowing people to enter legally from a country where it's people routinely defecate on our laws?

Depends on your point of view. I don't have a problem with people immigrating legally -- if they wait their turn, learn English, adapt to the American culture, stay honest and work hard. That's what my paternal grandparents did 85 years ago.

If they don't wait their turn, don't learn English, don't want to adapt to American culture, and break the laws... then they can go to hell and stay there.

For instance, this murdering POS can hang.

34
posted on 02/23/2009 7:32:06 PM PST
by dayglored
(Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!)

Reyes fled to Mexico, and United States marshals arrested him north of Mexico City. He was kept in a Mexican prison for five months while the nation negotiated terms of his extradition; they would only release him to the United States if he would not be executed. The U.S. Department of Justice agreed.

What the H&LL is wrong with these people??? How in the world are they brought up - it’s so easy for them to kill and hurt people. What kind of culture is this??? There’s so many stories like these - why is it so easy for them to kill????

From botched electric chair and gas chamber executions, the mess of shooting, or the the failures of injecting, the one method that after all these years still makes more sense that any other but is simply not sophisticated and ritualistic enough, is hanging.

Carbon monoxide would work nicely too. Completely painless and odorless. You just fall asleep and don't ever wake up.

Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.